The invention relates to apparatus for towing seagoing vessels and more particularly it relates to linkages and skegs for utilization during the towing of non-propelled barges.
In the past, non-propelled barges have been transported through the water by either "pushing" the barge from the stern by a tugboat or pulling the barge at the end of a line from the bow or one side. The former method was usually accomplished by connecting the tugboat to the stern of a barge by a suitable linkage such as is illustrated in applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 3,568,621, which is incorporated by reference. The combined structure would then act as one and navigation would be accomplished through controls on the tugboat.
Barges pulled on a line, however, are free to oscillate from side to side (yaw). If the amplitude of oscillation were small, then the condition was not serious. At times, though, a yawing barge could swing in a path having a width two to three times the length of the barge. This substantial yawing has been known to capsize tugboats and even barges.
To overcome this problem, "skegs" are included on many non-motorized barges wherein towing of the barge by pulling is anticipated. (Skegs are fin-like protrusions, usually attached as a parallel pair to the stern of the barge, which have a substantially vertical orientation and which are substantially aligned with the path of travel.) While skegs helped reduce yawing drastically, they also offer additional water resistance.
Hence, to provide an improved apparatus for barges which are towed both by pushing and pulling, it is desirable to provide a device which minimizes water resistance when the barge is pushed and which functions as a stabilizing skeg to reduce yawing by the barge when it is pulled.